Summer solstice: the longest day, the longest illumined.

Or: First day of summer. Summer sounds part two.

It’s serendipitously appropriate that I’ve let writer’s block defeat me until the topic of “summer sounds” found it’s way back to me. However, it would be a lie to say that music isn’t always on my mind– rhythms repeat regardless.

Death Cab for Cutie’s Codes and Keys and The Cinema have have been on constant repeat these past few weeks, and just yesterday I’ve started replaying and repeating Bright Eyes’ The People’s Key. Although it can be argued that, audibly, there is a shared [faint] electronic motif, the latter two especially, that lends itself to some optimism, it’s the theme of perception and realization that’s really affecting me– the revelations of the change in the frames and filters of experience.

While the idea of uncovering and documenting should have been more obvious from the get-go, I’m only making this connection now. Deduction not design.

I’ll keep the analyzed specifics a secret, because it’s all subjective, sometimes even short-lived anyway, I’ll just say that it’s these little aha! moments that I’m grateful for. It’s times like these that strengthen and reaffirm my love of music, as well as my certainty of its necessity. Our playlists function as the self-imposed soundtracks to our lives; just as they can intensify our experiences, they can also change our sentiments.